


When coffee's not enough

by syusuke



Series: We're brothers whether you like it or not [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Caffeine Overdose, Dick is a Good Brother, Dick is a Mother Hen, Gen, Tim is a human disaster, caffeine is a neurotoxin, medically accurate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 13:45:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16517627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syusuke/pseuds/syusuke
Summary: Nightwing can't reach Red Robin. Once he does find him, the situation is close to escalating. No villains needed. Just a stubborn little brother and a severe miscalculation. Tim knows he messed up, but he is prepared.





	When coffee's not enough

“Oracle, is Red Robin undercover? I can’t reach him.”

“Negative, Nightwing. Last I heard he was on a trip for his day job. He called off patrol duties for a week. Black Bat is covering for him.”

“I know that, but until yesterday he was always reachable for me. Can you run a quick check on his location?”

“I can’t locate him. But his latest suit is in his nest.”  
“Thanks, on my way.”

“No offense, but could I help? Red does that sometimes....”

“I know... and last time he ended up half dead in my old safe house.”

“Noted. The bike is parked 500 meters from you. Don’t crush it, its Hood’s.”

 

Nightwing slipped in from the roof. Security was weakest there, but he missed one alarm anyway. A bright blinking light turned on to his right, the camera focused on his dimly illuminated face and then turned itself off. 

“Red? You in there?”

Dick managed to navigate through the tower rather quickly. He hadn’t been here in a while and there was a lot of new tech. It was impressive. Everything was neatly connected and the ceiling had some “unnecessary” bars attached to it. Nice touch.

He noticed the smell of coffee, before he even caught a glimpse of Red Robin. Some empty cans littered the floor of the computer room. Unlabeled pills were stashed away in a jar on the desk. The only light in the room came from the dimmed down desktop. Dick kicked away some cans as he came to a halt. Tim was still typing frantically and didn’t even look at his approaching brother.

“Nightwing. Sloppy today? Camera caught you. Anything you need?”

“Uhm, slow down, Tim. It was a long night. What are you doing?”

“Updating the data base.”

Dick put a hand on Tim’s shoulder. The younger was practically vibrating. The way his fingers were flying over the keys was unnerving. Tim was still in his uniform, even the belt and wings were still on. That was unusual, Tim had complained many times that the equipment got uncomfortable when he was on monitor duty. Dick took a closer look at his brother. Sweat was glistening on his face, he was either squinting or blinking rapidly. And he was... chewing gum?

“Tim? Timmy?”

He kept staring at the screen, chewing frantically. Dick grabbed the domino and pulled it off. Tim swatted at him, clearly irritated. He started for the mask, but Dick already had it out of reach and pulled Tim to his feet.

“Okay, what’s wrong? Fear toxin? Ivy?”

“Dick, leave me alone. I’m fine. I just want to finish this. Seriously, my mask? The light hurts...”

“WHAT HAPPENED? Wait... when did you sleep?”

“I’m fine. Just a couple more hours. I’ve gone longer without sleep.”

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne. WHEN did you last sleep?”

The younger sighed and mumbled something about stupid interruptions and just a little more caffeine. Then it finally clicked for Dick. Caffeine. Tim loved coffee and judging by the smell, it had been espresso at least, more likely ristretto. The cans were probably energy drinks... but that shouldn’t be enough, unless...

“What are these pills?”

“Caffeine. Coffee didn’t work anymore. Well it did, but not well enough. I just need a few more hours. Let me finish.”

That’s it. That was the last straw. Dick saved the open files and turned off the computer, before Tim could react. He grabbed his brother and dragged him towards the bathroom. Tim’s protests stopped abruptly, when he suddenly clutched his throat. He stumbled and would have fallen if not for Dick’s quick reaction.

Dick carried his baby bird the last meters. He tried to calm him down, speaking softly. Trying to get him to breathe slowly. He knew what this was, he had his own experiences with too much caffeine. Never quite this drastic, but still. If Tim had even taken caffeine pills, he must have been awake for more than 96 hours. Which probably meant no proper food either. He needed to get the caffeine out of his system. 

“Hey Timmy, slowly. In.... and out... Come on, in time with me.”

It only took a few breaths. Tim still had Dicks arm in a tight grip. He accepted a glass of water, drinking carefully. He nodded at Dick, they slowly stood up.

“I need to move. Kitchen. I think, I have cranberry juice?”

“Okay, hang on. Has this happened before?”

“Yeah, almost. And uh, what day is it?”

“Monday, the 11th.”

“I have to apologize to Cass then. I meant to be done by Saturday. Could you get the juice?”

Tim plopped down on the couch. His heart was still beating too fast and he didn’t trust his feet. He knew, that he had overdone it. Only an idiot would keep going. He might have calculated once how long he could go on caffeine pills without danger, he might be two days over the limit. He accepted the juice and immediately started chugging it. He felt Dick staring. So he wasn’t all that surprised when the empty juice box was replaced by a big water bottle. 

Dick knew that too much caffeine made you feel dizzy and anxious. He knew that the increased heart beat even made the feeling worse. But he knew Tim well enough, to trust him with handling the mental difficulties. The physical ones however couldn’t just be ignored. The only way to get his pulse down, was to get the caffeine out. He was more concerned that Tim was so well prepared to handle this.

“There should be some hot sauce and wasabi nuts in the cupboard. Probably more juice in the fridge. Cranberry or apple would be good. Alternatively just water. Jay might have left some nicotine gum here, hidden behind the “good night”-tea.”

Tim was still speaking too fast, but at least Dick could keep up. He got the stuff. Spicy food to kickstart the metabolism, juice to upset Tim’s intestines and effectively cause diarrhea. Yeah, great thought. But still better than the laxatives he had wanted to give him. Tim was rather... difficult with medication and they all knew it. He had a long history of unwanted side-effects, due to his long exposure to fear toxin that one time. It had never completely left his system. They actually weren’t sure, if it still affected him in some small way. Anyway, Tim had assured them that he could handle it. But it still meant that any kind of medication was a risk for his little brother. Every fibre of Dick screamed at him to give Tim a lecture and demand a damn good explanation. Ironically, it was the still heavy breathing and squeaky voice that grounded him enough, to put the thought on the back burner. He eyed Tim eating the wasabi nuts dipped in hot sauce, washing it down with apple juice. This was serious and Tim knew it. He scrunched his nose in disgust, but kept on munching his “snack”. 

 

“Okay, Champ. Moving around or bathroom?”

“Moving. I feel a bit better. How long have you been here?”

“About ten minutes. Wait, what are you calculating?”

“I should have 10 to 20 minutes until the last pill kicks in.”

“TIM! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Move, now!”

Dick dragged his brother to his feet and then around the room in a merciless tempo. Tim stumbled a little, but did his best to keep up. Only several minutes later did he quietly ask for a break. It was a close call between too much movement, which would get his pulse too high and just enough to activate his metabolism. Dick wasn’t surprised when Tim slowly walked back to the bathroom. He was surprised by the door shutting in his face though. 

“Tim, let me in.”

“No. Definitely not. I got this.”

Dick didn’t really want to let Tim unsupervised, but he guessed he could let Tim have his dignity. He sighed in relief as he heard the distinct sound of peeing... and other bodily functions. Yep, didn’t need to monitor that then. So he did the next best thing: Confiscating all the caffeine. Especially the pills.

When Tim finally got out of the bathroom, he didn’t even notice that all the cans and pills were gone. He slowly dragged his feet towards the couch, where he was pulled into a hug immediately. He struggled a little, but eventually gave up.

“I’m fine now. Didn’t you need something?”

“Nope, just wanted to check in.”

Tim didn’t believe him. But his raised eyebrow was completely ignored. He tried to get up again, but couldn’t. A human octopus held him down. Or something similar to that. No chance against Mister Bendy.

“You wanna watch Frozen or Tangled?”

“...did you just invite yourself to my nest?”

“Uhu, not leaving you alone. Frozen, okay?”

“Mhm, sure. Just don’t sing along.”

Dick gasped in mock exasperation. It served Tim right, when Dick started not with the movie, but the sing along tracks. He started with a very enthusiastic and also very.. creative version of “Do you wanna build a snowman”. 

Tim made a promise to himself, to never take caffeine pills gain. If only to avoid his brother mothering him like the mother hen he was. And maybe he wasn’t that eager to hear his singing either.

“Come on, Tim! Do you wanna build a batcave? Or patrol together through the night? I think some company is overdue, I’ve started talking to, the bats and birds and flies...”

“That didn’t even rhyme.”

“It gets a little lonely, all these empty streets, just watching hours ticking by. Do you wanna build a batcave? It doesn’t have to be a batcave..”

“Honestly..”

**Author's Note:**

> Actually medically accurate, because I'm nerdy like that and I work in medicine.


End file.
